• On his third day in Havana, he visits the Santiago de las Vegas AIDS
                   sanatorium and talks with the patients • Impressed with medical and
                   educational results • Pleased and excited about Cuba’s offer to help
                   other countries

                   BY MIREYA CASTAÑEDA (Granma International staff writer)

                   JIMMY and Rosalynn Carter’s third day in Havana was devoted
                   to two subjects very close to their hearts: the AIDS epidemic
                   and nutrition.

                   In line with their interests and the work carried out by The Carter
                   Center in these fields, they were invited to meet with doctors and
                   patients at Cuba’s first sanatorium for HIV-positive patients – located
                   in Santiago de las Vegas, a few kilometers outside the capital – and
                   later with private farmers in nearby Habana province.

                   Carter, 77, his wife and a group of executives from The Carter
                   Center arrived at the sanatorium – commonly known as Los Cocos,
                   named after one of the lovely estate’s residential areas – at 10 a.m.
                   on May 14.

                   The sanatorium’s director, Dr. Richard Martínez, explained
                   that there are 13 such sanatoriums on the island, and that
                   Los Cocos, the first of them, was established in 1986. A total
                   of 306 patients live there and they are attended by 16
                   doctors. Stays in the institution are temporary and absolutely
                   voluntary, as has been the case since 1993, when outpatient
                   care began.

                   The director said that the Cuban state has allocated 8.5
                   million pesos for this sanatorium, and the cost per patient is
                   24,348 pesos a year (68 pesos a day). Production in Cuba of
                   the medications for the so-called HAART (highly active
                   antiretrovirus treatment) has made it possible to achieve this
                   low figure.

                   In order to give Carter an overall view of the HIV-AIDS
                   situation in Cuba, Professor Jorge Pérez, deputy director of
                   the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), outlined
                   the history of the virus’ appearance on the island and the
                   measures that were quickly adopted.

                   He said that in 1983, after an informational meeting on AIDS
                   in Washington, a national commission was created to deal
                   with the epidemic. This was three years before the detection
                   of the first HIV-positive Cuban, a heterosexual man arriving
                   from Mozambique.

                   In 1985, the commission guaranteed the safety of all blood
                   donations, through the acquisition of 75,000 diagnostic kits
                   from the Pasteur Institute in France. (One of those strange
                   twists of history is that exactly 40 years ago on May 14 – the
                   day of the visit – the United States suspended the sale of
                   medicines to Cuba.)

                   When the first Cuban died of AIDS in May 1986 (a homosexual
                   man infected in New York), a decision was made to test
                   everyone in the country who had been in Africa, first those
                   who had been there any time since 1981, and later extending
                   the probe to those who had been there since 1975 (covering
                   the years of Cuba’s military assistance in Angola). From this
                   testing, 99 people were discovered to be infected: 57 men
                   and 22 women with whom they had sexual contact.

                   These are certainly interesting statistics, demonstrating that
                   the first patients were heterosexuals, and "the propaganda
                   that the Los Cocos sanatorium was created out of
                   homophobia is erroneous," Dr. Pérez stressed.

                   The final presentation was made by Dr. Manuel Santín, head
                   of the National Department of Epidemiology, who
                   concentrated on the importance that Cuba assigns to
                   educational programs in the community and in schools, and
                   with the so-called risk groups. He mentioned, for example,
                   the massive sales of condoms (from five million in 1996 to 55
                   million in 2000-2001).

                   He reaffirmed the economic significance of producing the
                   antiretrovirus medications nationally (AZT, DDI, d4T, 3TC and
                   INDINAVIR are registered).

                   It is a fact that the AIDS epidemic has a slow growth rate in
                   Cuba, and the basic means of transmission is sexual. Here
                   are the statistics: 4,092 people HIV-positive between 1986
                   and 2002; 1,653 have developed AIDS; 666 are living with
                   AIDS; 142 died of AIDS in 2001; the annual incidence in 2001
                   was 27.82 per million inhabitants; and the prevalence among
                   people 15-49 years old is 0.05%, the lowest on the continent.

                   The former U.S. president asked questions about how AIDS
                   transmission is controlled among prostitutes on the island,
                   and Dr. Santín described the preventive and educational
                   actions taken. "Taking into account the low prevalence of
                   AIDS in Cuba, the greatest risk of getting infected lies in
                   having contact with tourists."

                   After the presentations, Carter took the microphone in hand
                   and stated, in English and Spanish, that he and the
                   delegation from The Carter Center were very impressed with
                   the results that have been achieved. He also reiterated the
                   comments he had made the previous day at the Genetic
                   Engineering and Biotechnology Center, concerning his trip this
                   year to several African countries, some of which unfortunately
                   have a third of the population infected with AIDS.

                   He said that he was very pleased and excited about Cuba’s
                   offer to assist other countries (as Carlos Lage had proposed
                   at the special session of the UN General Assembly on AIDS),
                   based on its experience.

                   Subsequently, Carter chatted with a group of sanatorium
                   patients and asked them if they are satisfied with the
                   treatment, if they are able to return to a normal life, and if
                   any of the women who are HIV-positive had been pregnant.

                   The HIV-positive women and men in the meeting room
                   answered "Yes" to all three questions. Carter was surprised
                   by the presence of a 15-year-old girl, Yanetsis García, who
                   was born in the sanatorium and is now attending junior high
                   school, like any other teenager. Visibly moved, Carter hugged
                   the youngster.